Review: Raising Demons by Rachel Hawkins

Raising Demons by Rachel Hawkins (March 2011, Simon & Schuster Children's, ISBN: 1847387233)

Notes: Review contains spoilers for the previous book, Hex Hall.

Review: Hex Hall was one of my favourite books in 2010. Could the sequel, Raising Demons, be as good? Yes, thankfully it could and was.

We catch up with heroine Sophie Mercer a few months after the traumatic events in Hex Hall, almost at the end of the school year. Sophie's had a lot to take onboard, such as being a demon and the heir-apparent to the leadership of the Council of Prodigium and that her boyfriend, Archer Cross, is a demon hunter working for her sworn enemy, The Eye. That's plenty to be going on with and then she's informed that she's actually betrothed to Cal, the groundskeeper with the (literally) healing hands. Her father, the current head of the Council thinks it best that Sophie, her best friend Jenna and Cal spend the summer vacation at the Council HQ in England where he can try to dissuade her from voluntarily having her powers removed. However, though the HQ is a palatial stately home, a pair of demons, Daisy and Nick, make her life uncomfortable. Plus not only is she getting to know her dad, she has to learn to control her powers, and there's the issue of her former boyfriend who seems to pop up at the least expected moments and then there's the fact that she has her own personal ghost. Not a restful summer holiday, that's for sure.

Raising Demons was such fun, I loved it. Sophie is one of my favourite heroines: she's funny, kind, loyal and tries to do the right thing and with her magic can kick-ass! I snorted out loud at this reference to a popular series!: "Did you want to watch me sleep or something? Because if that's the case, this engagement is so broken." Her English dad's dialogue is also (intentionally) a hoot with his very formal speech with Sophie takes the mick out of. It was great to be able to see the mysterious dad and get to know and understand him better. As well as the witty remarks from Sophie there's the sparky romance with Archer who can spar with her on an equal basis. Hopefully their story will end better than Romeo and Juliet's. The big showdown at the end is a nail-biting affair and left on a huge, huge cliff-hanger. Rachel Hawkins writes on her blog that Sophie's story should be wrapped up in three books but I secretly hope that there'll be more...